Life After Rescue

I no longer use the foster name May. But we wanted to keep the memory of when I first came to their home as a foster girl. So.... In keeping with the tradition of choosing Italian names for us, which started with my Rainbow Bridge sister, Faccia Bella (Beautiful Face), my new forever name is ... Maggio Sorrisi!! Ta Daaaa!!
It means "May Smiles." And I DO!!

I've been adopted.... by my foster parents! Yes, my beauty, charm and loving ways have swayed my foster parents into adopting me. I was initially tense and confrontational with other dogs, and once I growled at a cat who approached my food dish. As I got healthy, comfortable that I was loved, well fed and cared for, I've come around. I'm pretty good pals with Davey and Teddy, and I was starting to like Carmela the Boxer. She got adopted yesterday so now it is just me and the boys, and foster sister Zera. Once Zera's surgical incision heals and she gets her cone collar off, we're going to run and run with that girl!

I still hoard things and sleep in my little cave a lot, but now sometimes I come out and sleep on the floor or couch, and I'm getting more social all the time. I love to sleep on the bed with my humans at night, and have come to expect it. I am SO glad I don't have to go to another home. One family came and looked at me, and I KNEW that if they liked me, I would have to leave this home I have so quickly come to love. I looked at my parents with eyes that said "I'm not going anywhere, I'm already home!" Well, finally they saw the light.

Well, a lot has happened since my last entry. I have taken much longer than normal to recover from my spay surgery, because I had a lot of issues going on. I did not even start perking up and eating and acting normally until today. I still get a little edgy around Davey and Teddy, my foster brothers, but my foster sister Lilly got adopted today. Good for her - but she was so energetic she made me the most nervous!

I'd really like to stay here because I love my foster parents, and I'd hate to get disrupted again to move to my forever home. I know they are thinking hard about making me a permanent resident and they do love me. But, they want to continue to foster and have to be assured that I could handle the influx of new, anxious and scared dogs (like I was a week ago) coming here to live temporarily. I have made great progress and I am going to be a great canine companion for someone. I seem to be mostly uninterested in the cats, and I am showing less food agression with the other animals now that I am feeling better. I've started to play a little, chasing a squeaky ball and running short distances.

I still try to build a little nest in a confined space, with my toys around me. My very unpleasant past life conditions are still causing me some anxiety, but I've made so very much progress that over time my people hope I will be able to completely trust and feel safe. Make no mistake, though; even with my past issues, I'm a beautiful, sweet, loving dog and I'm just going to get better and better!.

We all took a long walk tonight, smelled something pungent the people called "skunk" but I thought of as "hmmmm, interesting" and I was good walking along next to my foster brothers.

It was a long, scarey trip to get here, but now I'm in my foster home! There's a place called "yard" here where I can go whereever I want!! And there's these humans who never hurt me and they pet me a LOT!!
I did have to get in the water when I got here 'cuz the humans said I smelled like pee. I guess that's bad. But the water part was okay 'cuz the Man massaged me all over with some good smelly stuff and then the Lady massaged me again with a soft cloth. I love to wiggle really hard and those massages made me wiggle almost off my paws.

Today the Man is taking me back to the dogter for something called "spay." They promised I can come back to my new foster home when I'm done. I have some foster furbrothers & a foster fursister, called Labs & Kitties, here that I want to get to know better.
They'd like to play but I'm not sure they're my kinda furiends yet.
We'll see when I'm done with this spaying thing.